LG DLEX7800WE Dryer Review

This dryer will produce dry laundry every time—but it gets too hot for comfort

The LG DLEX7800WE(available at AJ Madison for $844.70) is a solid mid-range dryer with some interesting extras. Not only will you get steam features to help you fight wrinkles, you can control the dryer with the LG ThinQ app, and its EasyLoad door can open from top to bottom as well as from left to right to make loading laundry much easier. We didn’t like how finicky it can be to connect to the app, but it's a minor complaint compared to temperature performance. This dryer will get laundry 100% dry on just about every cycle—the problem is that it often reaches temperatures that can start to damage clothing. On the Normal cycle we measured temperatures that were 25 degrees hotter than what we’d normally consider ideal. Manually turning down the heat is one solution, and we'd also recommend checking out the Electrolux EFME627UTT, our current top-rated dryer that’s about the same price.

Pros

Gets laundry completely dry

Steam, smart app support, door can open vertically

Cons

Many cycles get too hot, exacerbating wear & tear

When dryers reach temperatures above 150°F, it can mean additional wear and tear for your clothes. The Normal cycle on the LG DLEX7800WE got up to 175°F, so we'd highly suggest turning down the heat manually. Other cycles ran hot as well, but temperatures weren't as drastic as the Normal performance.

About the LG DLEX7800WE Dryer

Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

The control panel features a standard cycle-selection dial, as well as a touch panel to the side for customizing cycle options.

What we like

It gets your laundry completely dry

There’s really one one main criteria people care about in a dryer: that it gets your laundry dry. In every cycle we tested, the laundry finished completely dry. And most cycles completed in an average amount of time compared to other dryers we've tested. Unfortunately, there's a downside to its ability to deliver completely dry in a reasonable amount of time—but we'll get to that later.

The EasyLoad door makes loading and unloading easier

Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

The DLEX7800WE dryer features LG's proprietary EasyLoad door. This door can both open from left to right or from top to bottom, —whichever you find easier for loading laundry.

Like other recent product releases, the DLEX7800WE features LG’s proprietary EasyLoad door, which can either open horizontally or vertically, giving users more options when it comes to loading and unloading their laundry. Have a load of wet, heavy blankets? It might be easier to open the EasyLoad door from the top, allowing you to easily dump laundry straight into the drum from above. We’ve liked this design in the past and we still think it’s a great innovation here.

What we don’t like

The Normal cycle runs way too hot

Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

The LG DLEX7800WE dryer has a very large 7.3-cubic-foot drum. This should be more than enough capacity for most families.

One of the common pitfalls of dryers is using a heat that’s so hot it can cause fabric fibers to break away at accelerated rates. The number to look out for is 150°F: Anything hotter than that will create higher levels of wear and tear than you’d otherwise get. If you’re only going a few degrees over, it’s probably nothing to stress over, but the further above 150°F you get, the more pronounced the damage will be, especially over time.

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In the case of the LG DLEX7800WE, both the Bedding and Speed Dry cycles go a bit above the 150°F mark: Bedding gets up to 157°F and Speed Dry reaches 158°F. Again, while this is over the safe limit for your clothes, it’s not by a huge margin. On the Normal cycle, however, we measured temperatures of 175°F, which is a fairly sizeable margin. This temperature, coupled with the fact that most users will gravitate towards the Normal cycle as their default, could equate to a lot of lost longevity of your laundry.

If you do have the LG DLEX7800WE already, we’d highly recommend using other cycles, or turning down the heat of your Normal cycle to bring it within a safer range.

The LG ThinQ app is a bit wonky

We like the free smartphone app in theory, but in practice it’s a bit impractical. Using the app, you can set up a cycle, start it remotely, and receive notifications when the cycle is complete. Unfortunately, the app isn't the easiest to use. In order to use the app at all, you need to first hit a button on the dryer to enable remote control. This button must be hit each time you close the door of the dryer—if you forget, or open the door to add some more laundry and don’t hit the button again, you won’t be able to connect with the app. While this is likely a safety feature, it doesn't create a good usability experience.

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What owners are saying

Users seem to love their LG DLEX7800WE dryers. It’s scoring an average of 4.8 stars out of 5 across major retailers. Users mainly rave about the EasyLoad door, its large capacity, and the dryer’s ability to delivery completely dry laundry every time. The only relatively common complaint is regarding the smart app and its connectivity quirks.

Warranty

The LG DLEX7800WE warranty covers parts and labor for one year. This is the standard warranty offered for dryers, though sometimes we do see specific parts guaranteed for longer periods of time.

Should you buy the LG DLEX7800WE Dryer?

Probably. Sure, we weren’t super happy with the Normal cycle reaching such high temperatures, but the DLEX7800WE does feature temperature controls to help mitigate the problem, and its other cycles are just excellent. On top of that, we also really liked its EasyLoad door and steam features. Overall, while the DLEX7800WE isn’t a perfect dryer, its downsides can be mitigated and its upsides are significant.

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Of course, when evaluating a dryer it’s also helpful to look at what its competitors can offer. The Electrolux EFME627UTT is a dryer at a similar price point that has all the drying power of the DLEX7800WE but keeps its temperatures within a range safe for your clothes. It also has a similar feature set (though it lacks the EasyLoad door). We’d recommend checking out the EFME627UTT if you were interested in the DLEX7800WE, as it’s currently our top-rated dryer.

Checking our work.

We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. If you’ve found different results in your own research, email us and we’ll compare notes. If it looks substantial, we’ll gladly re-test a product to try and reproduce these results. After all, peer reviews are a critical part of any scientific process.